Light field photography captures information about the direction of light as it arrives at a sensor within a data acquisition device such as a light field camera. Such light field data can be used, along with captured image data, to create representations of scenes that can be manipulated by a user. Subsequent to image capture, light field processing can be used to generate images using the captured image data along with the light field data. Various types of light field processing can be performed, including for example refocusing, aberration correction, changing the viewing perspective, and the like. These and other techniques are described in the related U.S. Utility Application referenced above.
Conventionally, images may be represented as digital data that can be stored electronically. Many such image formats are known in the art, such as for example JPG, EXIF, BMP, PNG, PDF, TIFF and/or HD Photo data formats. Such image formats can be used for storing, manipulating, displaying, and/or transmitting image data.
It is well known that such image data can be edited. Many software applications exist for editing digital images, such as for example Photoshop available from Adobe, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Generally, such software applications make changes to image data directly, so that editing causes the original form of the image data to be lost.
It is also well known to provide the ability to share images, for example via a website, social networking site, email architecture, or the like. Generally, sharing of images requires that image data be transmitted and/or stored in multiple locations; these operations can consume bandwidth and can be inefficient when similar data is repeatedly transmitted and/or stored. Furthermore, repeated transmission, storage, and modification of image data can lead to concerns about privacy and authenticity.